New coastal management plan safeguards Mumbai salt pans

File photoMUMBAI: The city’s eco-sensitive salt pans have once again been classified under the stringent Coastal Regulation Zone I (CRZ I), where no construction is permitted. The classification comes under the new draft Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) for Mumbai, which has been published seven years after the amended Coastal Regulation Zone Notification 2011 came into force. Nevertheless, koliwadas and gaothans have not been marked in the new CZMP.

Sources said vast swathes of salt pan land in Mumbai which were earlier marked as CRZ III have now been marked CRZ-IB. “This will affect the Kanjurmarg dumping ground and the government’s proposed affordable housing scheme on salt pan lands,” said one of them. The BMC has marked over 250 hectares for affordable housing.

The CZMP is a regulatory policy for construction activity, keeping environmental sensitivities in its purview. It also controls densification along the coastline and water channels. The draft plan is now available at the city and suburban collector’s office, and the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board for people to submit their objections and suggestions within 45 days.

Maharashtra’s environment secretary Satish Gavai told TOI the new plan retains salt pans under CRZ I just like it was under the extant CZMP.

Environmentalist Debi Goenka said salt is manufactured by impounding sea water and salt pans are always located between the high and low tide lines. “Therefore, they have always been classified as CRZ I,” he said. D Stalin, director of the NGO Vanashakti, said the new plan has clearly demarcated the high tide line (HTL) and the low tide line (LTL) along Mumbai’s entire coastline. But, he said, a site specific survey needs to be done. “What is good about the plan is that salt pan lands have been marked as CRZ IB (see graphic) as they should be,” he said, though he disagreed with many experts and claimed that earlier salt pans in Mumbai were marked as CRZ III and thus open to exploitation. Stalin said that thus, those affected may challenge the HTL and LTL and if the government accepts or is forced to do so, it may have to offer compensation, like transfer of development rights (TDR).

Under the new CZMP, koliwadas and gaothans (traditional fishing villages along the coast) have not been marked. The revenue department had been asked to carry out demarcation, but recently, revenue minister Chandrakant Patil admitted in the assembly that there was a delay in completing the exercise. Mumbai has 27 koliwadas and at least 24 gaothans are in CRZ.

The delay in publishing the plan has meant that several construction projects have been sanctioned under the old plan. “Authorities have deliberately allowed the city’s coast to be ruined,” alleged Stalin.

Environment secretary Satish Gavai said sanctioned proposals will not be reopened. “Also, proposals that have been received will be cleared till the new CZMP comes into force, which may take at least six months.”

Activist Godfrey Pimenta said that while LTL has been clearly demarcated in some places like Girgaum Chowpatty, HTL has not been marked at all. The buffer zone around mangroves is also clearly marked. A positive, said Pimenta, is that areas such as Navy Nagar, Haji Ali, Raj Bhavan, Worli firing range, Bandra Fort, Land’s End, Carter Road, and some parts of Seven Bungalows have now been shifted to CRZ III. Earlier these were in CRZ II. “This means that while carrying out development in these areas, more stringent norms will apply.” But Madh, Erangal village, Aksa and Marve, earlier in CRZ III, are now in CRZ II. “The draft Development Plan 2034 has suggested over a dozen DP roads in these areas. It is a very clear pattern and shows that the government has succumbed to pressure from the builders’ lobby and opened up this area for largescale construction.”

G D Chiplunkar, a consultant on CRZ matters, said the CZMP should incorporate beach nourishment programmes, beach beautification and allow public projects such as Metro stations and viewing galleries.